/C O R R E C T I O N -- Baldor Electric Company/

Baldor Electric Company Contributes $17.1 million to Employee Profit Sharing

                               and Savings Plan

FORT SMITH, Ark., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Baldor Electric Company (NYSE: BEZ) markets, designs, and manufactures industrial electric motors, power transmission products, drives, and generators and is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Today Baldor announced the results of its 2007 employee profit sharing plan contribution.

This year marks the 51st anniversary of the Baldor Employee Profit Sharing and Savings Plan. In 1957, Baldor Electric Company began sharing its profits as a way of sharing the company's financial success with its employees. This philosophy still applies today and is as equally important as it was back in 1957. The plan also reinforces the significant role Baldor employees play throughout the year in taking care of our customers and contributing to the company's success.

Today, Baldor contributes approximately 12% of the pre-tax earnings to the plan. As a result of record company sales and earnings, this year's profit sharing contribution is $17,135,952. Baldor's sales in 2007 were $1.82 billion and profits were $94 million.

For 2007, there were 5,439 eligible employees in Baldor's profit sharing plan and the average contribution was 3.5 weeks of pay. Baldor employees who have worked for the company for two years or more are included in the plan. In the past 5 years, the company has contributed $48,364,944 to the profit sharing plan on behalf of its employees.

Participants in the Baldor Employee Profit Sharing and Savings Plan have approximately $270 million invested in the plan. In addition, employees retiring from Baldor in 2007 withdrew over $20 million from the plan. The plan is fully funded each year and Baldor employees have 10 investment choices for their money.

John McFarland, Chairman and CEO said, "Baldor feels it's the right thing to do to share profits with our employees and has been doing so for 51 years. Our profit sharing plan is a great way for our employees to see how their efforts to continually improve productivity, quality and customer service enable the company to increase profits and our profit sharing contribution. Our profit sharing plan is also an outstanding way for Baldor employees to accumulate money for retirement."

Baldor Electric Company, headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, was founded in 1920 and has approximately 8,000 employees across theUnited States,Canada, Latin America,Europe and the Far East. Baldor also sells its products in more that 60 countries throughout the world.

SOURCE Baldor Electric Company

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Tags: Computers and Electronics, Utilities, , High Tech, Arkansas

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